May 23, 2008

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said here Thursday it was not necessary to involve the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to help resolve his spat with Prime Minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

TOKYO, May 22 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said here Thursday it was not necessary to involve the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to help resolve his spat with Prime Minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"This is a question of Umno politics. We should not take the issue to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong," he said when asked to comment on a suggestion by Umno veteran Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Tapa to seek the king's mediation in the dispute.

Abdul Aziz was quoted as saying today that the quarrel between Dr Mahathir and Abdullah had reached a stage where it could only be resolved by the intervention of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin as the mediator.

Dr Mahathir was approached for his comments after a dialogue session at the Nikkei International Conference on "The Future of Asia", here.

The former prime minister also said that he had no objections if Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak wanted to meet him.

The dispute between Dr Mahathir and Abdullah reached a "shocking" stage last Monday when Dr Mahathir, who had served as Umno president for 22 years, announced that he was quitting the party after having lost confidence in Abdullah's leadership, and that he would only rejoin the party after Abdullah had stepped down as Umno president and prime minister.

Many quarters see the move as a last-ditch attempt by Dr Mahathir to remove Abdullah from Umno and the government.